Improvement in the process of sizing yarns for warps



J. A. RHODES. 4 YARNS FOR WARPS. No.,35,262 I Patented May 13; 1862.

THE NORRXS PETERS cu. PuoTaufl-la. WA$HINGTON. B4 c PATENT. OFFICE.

JOHN A. R oDEs, 0F PROVIDENCE, RH'oDE ISLAND;

IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF SIZING YARNS FOR WARPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,262, dated May 13, 1862.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHNA. RHODES, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rliode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Process-of Sizing Yarns for Warps, 850., which is also applicable to sizing or starching cloths,&c.,

and for other purposes; and I do hereby de-- clare that, the following is a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, mak* ing part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for sizing or dressing yarns for warps arranged with myimprovement. Fig. 2 is av plan of the same, Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the size receptacle and rollers detached from the machine. Fig. 4 is a plan of the same. Fig, 5 is a plan and section of the vacuum-valve T, which forms aportion of my improved apparatus Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures. I

In the operation of sizing or dressing yarn for warps as now generally practiced the yarn to be sized is arranged upon the yarn-beams D I), Figs. 1 and 2,-fromwhich it is drawn and passes through the yarn guides Ll, over the guide-rollers Z (Z, thence into the sizing in the receptacles f f, under the size-rollers g then between said rollers and the rollers h h thence it passes over the steam-driers H, through the guides 13, under the guid e-roller s to the yarn-beam C, upon which the yarn is finally wound to be woven in theloom. In some machines. the yarn passes directly between the rollers g and h, instead of under and aroundthem in the manner shown, in which case a quantity of the size adheres to therollers g g? and is applied to the yarn at the point of intersection with the roller h h. In the operation of sizing or starching cloths, &c., a similar system of rollers, in connection with a'receptacle fer the size, is employed,

the drying being a separate operation.

The size generally lIlSGd is composed of equal parts of wheat and potato starch,with a proportionyof'British gum, (gum substitute.)

These are compounded by boiling with steam surface of the yarnor cloth andrubbed in between the'fibers by means of brushes, or it is crushed in by passing the goods between weighted rollers in the act'of expelling the superfluous size orpaste.

1 Another method of sizing yarns for warps, &c.', is set forth in the description of Lilliess sizing-machine in Ure on the Cotton llfanufact Lure of Great Britain, volume 2, pages 250, 251, edition of 1836, as follows: I It is a fact well known, particularly to dyers, that stuffs are not well penetrated by a fluid, &c., if they are not alternately immersed in the fluid and then squeezed out again for the purpose of expelling the air contained in the fibrous matter. With this view the sizing-machine (Lilliess) has beenconstructe'd, wh ich consists of a large trough filled with size, through which the warp is drawn;

but instead of passing it simply through the" fluid it passes over a setof rollers which turn by the friction of the traveling warp. This motion, by which the warp is pressed tight upon the rollers and left loose again: in the space between every two of them, effects a complete impregnation. of the fibers of the yarn.

It is proper further to state by way of description that of the rollers mentioned a series of some twenty or more are generally used, that'both the said rollers and the traveling warp are entirely submerged vin the size or paste, and that there are a number of openings in the bottom of the said trough, through which steam is admitted into the paste contained therein.

Both methods are also subject to the principal difiiculty experienced in dressing yarn for'warps, &c.that of drying the yarn except by extraordinary means of heating apparatus, hot rooms, & =.which limits the production of the machine to less than one-half its capacity if the yarn could be dried as rapidly as the size can, be applied; and it is a wellknown fact that during a season of continued dampness, and unless the dressing-room is heated to a very high temperature it is often found --necessary to suspend operations from inability to dry the yarnpor, in other words, to evaporate the moisture from the quantity of size or other fluid is the object of invention.

My improvement consists inthe use of steam impinging yarns, cloths, and-fibrous matter while immersed in size, paste, or other fluid with which said yarn, cloth, (he, is to be sized or dressed, substantially as hereinafter described; also, in the use of steam impinging the surface of the roller or other device used for immersing or applying the size, paste, or other fluid used to penetrate and treat the yarn, cloth, or other fibrous matter, substantially as hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my invention, I will proceed to describe the same.

In connection with the size-receptacles f f I arrange an apparatus consisting of 'a' steampipe, E, extending lengthwise near the edgeof the same, having branch pipes e e e e c, more or less in number, extending therefrom into the said receptacles, and provided with a vacuum-valve, T, (fully shown in Fig. 5,) an' escape-cock, a, together with a suitable induction-valve, I, for regulating the supply of steam. The ends of the branch pipes e extend beneath the surface of the size in the receptacle, and, being perforated upon each side at 25, Figs. 3 and 4, jets of steam issue in opposite directions therefrom, so as to impinge that portion-of the yarn which is immersed in the size by passing under the rollers g g, or otherwise.

Instead of a number of pipes like e e, one pipe having a row of perforations or a narrow slit extending lengthwise therein and arranged so as to eject the steam issuing therefrom directly against the immersed yarn may be employed.

The action of steam impinging the yarn while removed from the air by immersion, as shown and described, effectually expels the air from between the fibers, while the current of heated moisture carries with it the diluted or thinner portion of the size, which is thus made to penetrate to the inmost fiber and take the place of the expelled air. By this means so minute a quantity of the size is incorporated with the yarn, and by the application of-such an intense moist heat, that the superfluous moisture is exhaled by exposure to the air, which is cooler, and the sized yarn dries as quickly as can bedesired.

The impinging steam alsohas the effect of destroying that elasticity of the fiber which is the resistance in spinning or twisting the same, which obliges each fiber to conform to the position and retain the shape into which it is twisted or otherwise wrought, in consequence of whicha much less quantity of the size is required .The .fibers are laid more compactly together, and the yarn, being thereby rendered much" stronger, is less liable to break in undergoing subsequent operations. Owing to this peculiar effect yarn for warps may be sufiiciently dressed or prepared to .un-

dergo successfully the operation of weaving without any size by using water only for im mersion in the receptacle,

\Vith impinging steam I am enabled to make use of certain gums, glues, and glutin ous matter which could not be used for sizing purposes except in connection with such a powerful solvent.

Theeifect of steam in destroying the clasticity of the fiber, as above described, suggests its application to the roving in the operation of spinning, as well as to the yarn afterward.

The best result is obtained-that is, the yarn is most effectually sized with the least quantity of size-when the perforations in the pipes from which the steam issues are most nearly in contact with the yarn itself say at a distance of one thirty-second of an inch therefrom-and only diminished results will be obtained at more remote distances therefrom in approaching that point atwhich the size is simply boiled in the receptacle, and it is this peculiarity of my invention which distinguishes it from the use of steam for boiling the size in aseparate vessel or for boiling the size or paste in the receptacle, as practiced in Lilliess sizing-machine, it being insuificient that the size is simply boiled in the receptacle, or that it is applied to the yarn, &c., boiling hot. The steam must impinge the yarn or fiber in order to produce the desired result, as above described.

The action of the steam impinging the sur face of the roller 9 or its equivalent instead of the yarn imparts an intense moist heat to the surface of said roller, and is found to greatlyfacilitate the operation of sizing yarns for warps, &c., in machines in which the yarn passes directly between the rollers g and 71, as before explained. In addition -to this it entirely prevents the size from adheringto the said rollers, from which much inconvenience and loss of time are now experienced from the necessity of frequently stopping the machine to remove the adhering size from the rollers.

The steam may impinge the yarn, cloth, &c., at any desired point upon the circumference of the roller-that is to say, either upon the under side of the roller, upon the side which receives the yarn or cloth, or upon the side which delivers the yarn or cloth, and also at the'point of intersection of the said roller g with an auxiliary roller, h.

The vacuum-valve '1, Fig. 5, admits air to the steam-pipes E e when a vacuum is formed therein by the condensation of steam after the induction-valve I is closed, thus preventing thesi'ze from running into and clogging the pipes, and is therefore an important aux iliary in connection with this apparatus, though in itself it is without novelty. Should the said pipes, however, by any circumstance become clogged, they maybe cleared by open- .ing the escape-cock a and blowing the steam through the pipe E.

In using this process by means of the ap paratus desorihedor one equivalent thereto, I first mix the required quantity of size in a separate, vessel, in consistency according to the nature'of the size material, and pour it into the receptacles ff, and let on the steam abou thirty seconds before starting the machine, when the operation may proceed. Shouldit be found that the, yarn is taking up too much size, the perforated ends of the pipes Neither do I restrict myself to any particular size or fluid'for immersion, or its application to any particular fiber or manufacture thereof.

I do not claim simply boiling the size or other fluid in the receptacle by steam or otherwise. Neither do I claim the use of boilinghot size, or simply steam in combination with size or other fluid, as the same havebeen previously known and used.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

1. The use of steam impinging yarns, cloths, and other fibrous matters While immersed in size, paste, or other fluid with which said yarn, cloth, 6513., is to be sized 'or dressed, substan' tially as described, for the purposespecified.

2. The use oisteain impinging the surface of the roller or other device used for .immersing or applying the size, paste, or other fluid with which the 'yarn, cloth, or other fibrous matter is to be sized or dressed, substantially as herein described, for the purpose specified.

JOHN A. RHODES. Witnessesi JAMES LAIRD, R. GAWLEY. 

